Retraining as plumber at 35

[Pragmaticscoundrel]

Good afternoon all
John here from norfolk.
I'm looking to change career after 20 years in hospitality.
Stressful way to make a living & I've lost my passion for it.
Plumbing appeals hugely.im fairly mechanically minded & a quick learner.
The issue is-im 35 & cant pay the mortgage on an apprentice wage.
Is there a day release nvq course etc I can organize through a college or would I need to do full time?
I'd be hugely grateful for advice on this.

Many thanks

 

[ShaunCorbs]

What appeals to you in the plumbing game ?

 

[SJB060685]

When I did my apprenticeship the same college did a once or twice a week evening course to reach the same qualification, which allowed people to work during the days at whatever job they held.
Your age doesn't bother me. I'm 35 as well and although highly trained in my given field, there is still so much to learn. If you are passionate about giving it ago then by all means do so but you must be prepared for an awful lot of studying, a lot of effort and input and even when you qualify with an NVQ level 3 (is that still the qualification Shaun?) that only scratches the surface.

 

[Pragmaticscoundrel]

What appeals to you in the plumbing game ?

The catering sector has changed dramatically over the last 20 years.these days-you need to be an IT expert, cook, translater of many languages, HR specialist & able to deal with every bizarre allergen known to man!
The appeal with plumbing is predominantly solo working (no screamy kitchens or politics or egos!) & I guess problem solving & a task/effort/reward cycle that I find appealing in car mechanics already.
My brother works in construction/fitting & regularly looks for a reliable plumber he can sub jobs out to so seems logical.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Yep nvq 3 tbh night course are ok but with anything nothing beats hands on so best to work for a company for a few years as an improver or they know your green the courses don’t teach you everything

 

[SJB060685]

I agree courses don't give you the hands on experience, which is vital but as he says an apprentices wage won't make ends meet. Tricky situation really.

 

[Pragmaticscoundrel]

I agree courses don't give you the hands on experience, which is vital but as he says an apprentices wage won't make ends meet. Tricky situation really.

Well yes that's the catch 22.common issue with older retraining I guess.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

It’s one of them if he can’t take a pay cut and wants to go basically straight into work / employment I would try and look for something else as tbh your too green coming out of collage / short courses

 

[SimonG]

Chicken and the egg. Anybody can do anything at any age. But you will have to sacrifice something and the reward will be matched by the sacrifice.

Courses will give you the bits of paper and maybe get a start as a plumbers mate. But the key will be no experience.

Try the search function on the forum, many have been in exactly your situation and you may find something in there.

 

[Scott_D]

Do you work in a hotel or somewhere with a maintenance team?

 

[Knappers]

Night classes for me back in my mid twenties (15 years ago).
Altho night class was significantly accelerated compared to the day course (for kids), I still found it frustratingly slow in places, then a mad rush at others (I may not have had the best experience as I think my college was struggling for staff at the time).
Dragging my sorry butt to class was hard work some days.
NVQ had a portfolio requirement so be prepared to do some jobs for friends and family to build one up.
There are plenty of quick plumbing courses about but I get the feeling that the people who really benefit from them are the organisers - when they take your money!
I could tell you what I had to sacrifice to get into the trade but it would only serve as an example of how to struggle and what not to do.

Plumbing is generally quite basic but you can easily cause quite a bit of damage and what makes a good plumber is lots experience, knowledge and finesse.
Most jobs also require you to be a carpenter, electrician, bricklayer, carpet fitter or ground worker.

I've put some thought to how I'd do it if I were doing it now and I think I'd probably start as a 'man with a van' type handyman service doing all sorts of jobs from fencing to changing light bulbs. There's good money in handyman work and plenty of demand. You'd be gaining a range of practical skills that would crossover well and even include the odd plumbing job.
I'd probably start with a general skills course at college and work on building up contacts.
I think the key to getting anywhere quickly is going to be good mentorship and you'd be sooo much more attractive to a plumber as a good general labourer than a plumbing apprentice IMHO.

Do a course, buy a van, advertise, work your spare time, try to reduce your hours at work, build contacts, get in with a plumber and work under them whenever you can.

I can't stress enough that your goal should be to work under someone and absorb some of their skill, that's probably going to be your toughest obstacle and so should shape your plan.

Yes you could do a course and just be a plumber but you'll be a Rubbish one, will likely make mistakes, other plumbers won't want to work with you and you'll be destined to a life of stress and loneliness before dying of a heart attack at 45!
(I may have got a bit carried away)

 

[SJB060685]

Through fear of upsetting some people I think a handyman job is for someone who doesn't possess the mental capacity to understand more complex jobs. It might be easy work and easy money but I know some people are far better off using their brain for more stimulating work. My brother was a master technician for VW for many years, highly trained individual who has now become an odd job man and I really can't see the logic behind it. Just my thoughts, I don't want nor need a debate.

 

[SimonG]

I've had to re do a lot of plumbing done by handymen. But then again I've redone a lot of work purported to have been done by qualified plumbers.

I'm afraid courses wont teach you the skills and knowledge for when it all goes pear shaped.

Ultimately you will need an NVQ, which will as said before need a portfolio completing. You need to factor in the difficulties of completing this. You dont want to lose pay but you have to be supervised and signed off doing a number of tasks. If I was signing off you would be doing the tasks to suit me rather than you.

You may be better looking for somebody who is close to retirement, needs an extra pair of hands etc. But again your issue will be not wanting to lose pay.

 

[Knappers]

I don't want nor need a debate.

Then maybe don't post your opinion on a forum?

A handyman (altho granted, not the norm) could be a master of multiple trades and just not want or need to specialise or include 'master' or 'expert' in their job title (eg, I'd happily call myself a plumber). In the end for a true master craftsman all jobs tend towards mundane anyway.

A little background:
Both guys I served under have passed now, I would love for them to still be around.
Even ignoring everything else, if just for the expertise and experience they had I would happily demote myself to dogsbody/handyman/tea-boy for a year just for access to that.
So without disagreeing with you, my point still stands (for me atleast).

 

[Knappers]

Infact I think your example proves my advice may atleast be feasible financially for OP?

 

[Chuck]

Just my thoughts, I don't want nor need a debate.

You must be new here.

 

[SJB060685]

Infact I think your example proves my advice may atleast be feasible financially for OP?

I would agree with that yes buddy. My point was that some people need stimulation and a place to use their brain. Im no genius but I'm not stupid and the thought of my brain festering away and stagnating because I didn't use it to its full potential bothers me. I appreciate some people want an easy life and are happy to do such work but the OP said he was mechanically minded and is passionate and as you know that's two good traits for mechanical engineering. Its going to be hard whatever path he chooses but hard work and passion, more often that not pay off.

 

[Timmy D]

I would agree with that yes buddy. My point was that some people need stimulation and a place to use their brain. Im no genius but I'm not stupid and the thought of my brain festering away and stagnating because I didn't use it to its full potential bothers me. I appreciate some people want an easy life and are happy to do such work but the OP said he was mechanically minded and is passionate and as you know that's two good traits for mechanical engineering. Its going to be hard whatever path he chooses but hard work and passion, more often that not pay off.

Just expanding on this a little, I need/enjoy brain stimulation. This was one of the primary reasons for my career change at 33.
I love the fault finding, fixing the problem and going home at the end of the day knowing and being able to show what I’ve achieved/built/fixed.
I didn’t get that satisfaction with sales/account management.

With that in mind, I’m always learning new skills. It allows me to vary the work I do and prevent repetitive boredom.

I’m fortunate that a family member is a 68 year old, life served, general builder. His experience and knowledge, which he’s passing to me has allowed me to do any job a “handy man” could.

My career is plumbing/gas but I can do roofing (tiles/felt/zinc/lead), patios/slabs, fences, carpentry, framing, hard wood floors, plastering, decorating, bathroom/kitchen installs.

I don’t pretend to customers that they are my primary trade but I’ve had customers beg me (even when I explain it will cost more for me to do the work than someone who’s primary trade it is) to do these other types of work because they trust/see the quality of my work.

I’m also not hesitant to say when I’m out of my depth and often work with/use my general builders wealth of knowledge.

I guess what I’m getting at, is I could be classed as a handy man, albeit, an over qualified one!

 

[kayTee]

i started same age 5 years ago, i went training part time(2 days a week) for a year then once i got my qualification i worked as a plumbers mate on building sites for a couple of years whilst i done my nvq2 portfolio it was hard mate and things were tight finicially but was worth it...my advice to you is jump in, the thoughts in your head and probably wont go away so just do it mate

 

[Ric2013]

Some random thoughts of mine regarding handymen.

I'm not equipped with all the tools I'd need to be able to tackle the quantity of carpentry work I might have thrown at me as a handyman. Also, my physical build is small and skinny which is useful for clambering around lofts and suits plumbing better than general building. But the 'less-skilled' trades are not easy. I have genuine admiration for anyone that can plaster or hang paper - properly, anyway - and for carpet fitters who can carpet a room perfectly in 20 minutes. But as you will need to be able to turn your hand to other trades (even if you are never as fast or quite as good as the dedicated tradesmen) to be an effective plumber, from that point of view, I think the handyman route could be good, if you can make it pay.

I tried the handyman route and decided to get out of it (though I will still take on some odd jobs, for certain people). I'd already done a lot of building work on an amateur level, and I used to own and maintain a classic car, so that covers a lot, but as I started investing in my plumbing, I found my van filling up and now I actually can't carry everything and still have reasonable access to my plumbing fittings. I'm not prepared to pave over my beloved garden to fit a bigger van in, and my house is relatively small so I'm not able to store too much at home. Ultimately, increasing my work potential by investing in a bigger house or commercial premises, van, etc. would be expensive and it ended up seeming (contrary to what you might expect) easier to specialise in one trade and do it well than try to do entry-level work in several fields.

And then there's the pricing issue. If you specialise in one trade, you can can fully qualify and tool up in that trade and command the labour rates for it. If you're a handyman, you probably won't be fast enough to be price-competitive for any but the smaller jobs, which you'll then need more of to fill your week. This is fine, but only if you can still charge enough and obtain enough contracts to make it all worth your while. You might, for instance, limit yourself to glazing, hanging shelves etc, mowing lawns, and a bit of painting, and then you won't have too many tools and materials to deal with. You already have a business background, and might make of this a successful stopgap.

I wouldn't want to talk you out of the idea. I have noticed that within the plumbing trade there are a lot who stick will doing things they way they were taught and are not fast learners or keen to innovate, while others (most of those on this forum, for instance) are more intellectual and probably better at faultfinding. Sometimes you can gain a customer by solving an issue that others have tried and failed to solve, and if you can find someone who has a lot of work waiting for the right person, then well and good. I think the question is not if you should try plumbing, but how best to go about it.